We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. — Galatians 2:15-16
So I am going to run right at this one. And I am going to assume that you have listened to the other devotionals in this chapter because they set the context.
But Paul wants the Galatians to know that if anyone should've had a moral advantage it was Jews. But the problem was that the moral advantage they thought they had was no moral advantage at all. And the reason being is that the moral law only pointed out the line between right and wrong.
Just go back to the original Law given to Moses. God gave Moses ten moral rules or commandments. They were a list of do's and do not's. But they were impossible for man to keep. In just ten commandments, God exposes man's moral futility. But man likes to think that moral obedience is possible. So we do what every man does. We slightly redraw the lines of the moral law in an attempt to justify ourselves. We add in other laws and regulations that make it possible to keep the law and achieve moral superiority. Everybody does this.
But when Jesus arrives on the scene, he points out that moral obedience is impossible. In the Sermon on the Mount, he points out that religious leaders can redraw the lines all they want, but this never makes obedience more possible. And then Jesus does this; he redraws the moral lines that men had redrawn. He repeats this phrase several times, "You have heard it said, but I say unto you." And one moral law at a time, he redraws the line so they can see the real intent of the law. The purpose of the law is to point out sin. Its purpose is not justification.
So why does Paul bring this up here?
Well, because he was a Pharisee and expert in the law. And he knew that legalists love legalism because they love to be self-justified. They feed on a process of self-justification. But in Christ, there is no such thing as self-justification. There is only the justifying work of Jesus. The work that he did, which we could not do. Only he was obedient to the moral law. Only he could uphold it. And we must cling to his work and obedience for us by faith alone.
But the danger for all men is that we slip back into this old way of thinking and behaving. And this is what Paul is concerned about with the Galatians. He is worried that if the Galatians don't understand that the law points out sin and Christ's obedience is the fulfillment of that law, they will attempt to lean on rites, rituals, rules, and regulations for their moral obedience. So his point, in the end, is this — moral advantages don't exist, and there are no moral advantages at all. Don't trust in any form of moral advantage. Only trust in the one who was truly moral — Jesus. And live in faith in his work every day.
Gentlemen, there are two ways men rebel against Christ. One man rebels through disobedience done by acts of selfishness. The other man rebels through obedience done by acts of self-righteousness that attempt to self-justify. Don't rebel either way today.
ASK THIS: Which way do you rebel?
DO THIS: Let Christ's work do the work for you.
PRAY THIS: God, may all my work be done with the right motivation. Work in me and through me today.
PLAY THIS: Jeremy Camp - Christ In Me.
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